This one is a bit long again, but that's ok. We (myself and tivaxbrulianxkibbs) changed a few minor details in regards to his team knowing about Shannon. It fit better with the story. Hope you enjoy, please reviews are welcome!

I would also like to thank SeaTrollTakeover for her reviews!

~*~

It was 10 pm at NCIS and everyone was still there. Finishing up a case of a missing marine, Gibbs headed for MTAC. "Head on home; do your reports in the morning."

"Won't argue with you there boss." Tony grabs his stuff "See ya in the morning."

A few minutes later, Ziva shuts down her computer making sure that her desk was in proper order. Looking up, she saw Tim typing away and Bella resting on her desk.

"Tim?"

"Yea, Ziva?"

She points to Bella, "Do you want me to take her home?"

Looking over at her with a soft smile, "No, I got her Ziva."

She nods, "Good night."

Cleaning up, he watches Ziva leave. Looking around, he searches for Gibbs to find he was still in MTAC. Cleaning Bella's desk, he gently shakes her. "Bella, Bells, its time to go." Her head slowly rises to look up at him. "Come on love, I'll take you home."

Sleepily she whispers, "Can I stay with you tonight?"

Grabbing her bag, "Of course you can." Wrapping his arm around her, she leaned into him as they stepped into the elevator.

~meanwhile~

After filling in the missing marine's superior officer, Gibbs exited MTAC to see McGee cleaning up the last bit of files on Bella's desk. Watching their interaction, he stood silently. I knew something was going on between the two of them. Now I know exactly. Seeing Tim wrap his arm around her, he couldn't help but smile. Not wanting to be seen, he quietly stepped out of view from the elevator as they stepped in.

~*~

The next day, Bella meets Jethro at the coffee shop for their Friday morning routine. She notices that he's in the back corner table, always the anti-social Uncle Jay. She makes her way to where he is and sits down across from him, smiling when she sees the pumpkin scone he's picked out for her.

"Good morning, Bells," Gibbs says, taking a swig of his coffee.

Swallowing the bite of scone she has in her mouth she smiles widely at him, "Good morning, Uncle Jay. Thank you for the scone."

Gibbs smiles, watching his niece eat her breakfast, "You're welcome. How was the rest of your night?"

Oh, if you only knew, Uncle Jay, she thinks, and smiles to herself at the memory of being held in Tim's arms the whole night. She can most definitely get used to being held like that for the rest of her sleepless nights. "It was good, nothing unusual."

Gibbs nods, not understanding why she hasn't told him about her and McGee. It's really no big deal to him, but the fact that she feels like she has to hide their relationship from him has him confused.

"Good, good," he says in response and as she takes a sip of her coffee, he grabs her attention once more. "Bells?"

Looking up at him, "Yea Uncle Jay?"

"You up to having dinner tomorrow night?"

She smiles, "Sounds great. Who's cooking?"

"I will."

Her smile gets bigger "Even better!"

She takes a bit of her scone as Jethro says, "Why don't you bring your new guy friend along too."

She chokes on the bite she has and snaps her head up, and her eyes meet his, "What? I don't know what you're talking about."

Crossing his arms, "You know exactly what I am talking about Bella. You think I haven't noticed the change in your demeanor? Bring him, no excuses."

Caving in, she pleads with her eyes, "Promise me you won't mention your guns or any other form of methods in which you can inflict pain."

He grunts, "I'll try." McGee already knows better than to hurt you. I've already promised him I'd shoot him. She doesn't need to know that.

~*~

She corners McGee in a secluded hallway at NCIS and tells him of their already made dinner plans for the next night.

"He said what?" Tim asks, snapping his head up, his voice full of panic.

Grabbing his hands, she looks into his eyes, "Please Tim?" She pleads, "it will be worse if you don't show up."

Catching her gaze, he sighs mentally knowing he's trapped. "I'll go."

"Thank you," she says, and looks around to make sure they are still alone; she leans in and quickly pecks his lips, "You're the best, Tim."

~*~

Gibbs opens his door to find his niece and only his niece. "Hey, Uncle Jay," she greets and brushes past him, she takes off her coat and hangs it up.

Closing the door he watches her, "Solo Bella?"

Rolling her eyes, she laughs. "He will be here. He had a few errands that he had to do today."

"Like what?"

"Like buying life insurance to cover his funeral costs," she quips, turning to face her Uncle.

Gibbs chuckles, "I'm not that bad, Bells."

Crossing her arms she leans against the wall, "Really? You have almost successfully chased away any guy that I brought home to meet you."

"Your father would have done the exact same thing I did...and probably have me help too."

She grins, "Touché." She heads for the kitchen and Gibbs hears the opening and closing of the cupboards. She reappears in the living room; glass in hand and from the looks of it, full of bourbon. At his look, she shrugs as she takes a sip, "Nerves. Leave me be."

Knocking on the door causes Bella's eyes to flicker to the front door. Motioning with his head, he says, "You get it."

Placing her glass on the table, she heads for the front entrance. She opens the door to find a nervous Tim. "Hey, come on in." Shutting the door, she laces her fingers with his. "Come on, he's in the living room."

Hearing footsteps, Gibbs looks up to see Bella leading Tim. He is no doubt nervous as hell, and Jethro can hardly wait to have his fun of the night. Noticing their hands he smiles and decides to not mention it, "Evening Tim."

Tim smiles nervously, "Good Evening boss."

"I'm not 'boss' tonight Tim, just Gibbs." Sensing Tim's nervousness, "why don't you show him around Bells?"

Smiling, she gives a slight nod, "Come on Tim, I've got something you're going to love to see." Gently pulling Tim away she gives Gibbs a grateful look.

Giving her a slight nod, he waits until they leave to pick up her drink. He takes a sip, Nerves.

~*~

Bella leads Tim up the stairs she's climbed numerous times before. Tim notices the picture frames on the wall, mostly of Bella and her family, and then at the very top of the stairs, a 10X13 framed photo is a younger Gibbs, a red headed woman and a small child, possibly two or three at the time of the photo.

Bella notices Tim staring intently at the photo of her Aunt Shannon and Cousin Kelly, she looks at the photo and looks at Tim sadly, and asks, "Didn't you know?"

Tim shakes his head, "No. Gibbs really isn't into sharing his personal life. Who are they?"

Bella glances down the stairs and tugs his arm, "Come on."

She stops outside the door of a room she hasn't been in for years. You can just barely make out the painted letters on the outside of it. She places her fingers to her lips and touches the door, and walks to the next room.

"This," she says, opening the door, "was my room when Uncle Jay took me in."

Tim looks around the room, "So this is what 'Teenage Bella' was into."

She chuckles, "Yeah, I suppose so."

She goes and sits on her bed and watches Tim wonder around her old room. He stops at a wall that has posters on it and points at two in particular. She notices the confused look on his face, "What, Tim?"

He turns back to her, "You have a poster of Elvis Presley and the Beach Boys on your wall."

Bella beams at him, "Yep, Elvis is the King, never mind what other people say, and the Beach Boys are just as great as he was."

Tim nods, "I agree."

Bella smiles at him, "Good, I think I'll keep you around then."

After Tim examines her room, he goes and sits next to her on the bed. "So, who was that in the photo, and what was behind the first door we came to?'

She turns to him, "Well, you know my Uncle was married several times, right?"

Tim nods, "Yeah, he doesn't exactly have the best track record in the marriage department, Love."

She nods sadly. "Not since her."

"Bella, if this is too hard for you to talk about; you don't have to tell me now. We can forget that I ever saw that picture and the door."

"No, you should know. You just can't tell Uncle Jay. He likes to keep them to himself. The only ones that know about them are me, Ducky, Mike Franks and the Director."

He nods, "Okay."

"Who you saw in the picture was my Aunt Shannon, and my Cousin Kelly. Shannon was Uncle Jay's soul mate. They were perfect for each other. She complemented him in every way. When I was five, Kelly was born; and even though there was a five year age gap between us, we were closer than ever, practically sisters.

I was ten when they were killed. Uncle Jay was away then, Desert Storm. Aunt Shannon had witnessed an officer being killed and went to NCIS, which was then NIS, she and Kelly were placed under protection detail, and somehow the murderer figured out who was driving them where, and placed a bomb on their car. It was fast, and I pray that they didn't feel anything.

Uncle Jay was a mess; he even went to where we all vacationed and my Dad found him putting a pistol in his mouth. A few months after their death, he joined NIS with Mike Franks. He swore to me and my parents that he was going to find the person responsible for Aunt Shannon and Kelly's death, and make sure that they wouldn't come after the only family he had left."

Bella's face is stained with tears from her story, and Tim pulls her to him, wrapping his arms around her and kissing her head, "Honey, I'm so sorry about what happened. If I had known-"

"Its fine, Tim. But now you know why Uncle Jay is so protective of me. He never got to do this with Kelly. And since my parents are gone, he's trying to do what they would."

Tim nods, "I understand." He looks down at her, piecing together the puzzle before him, "The door we stopped at first was Kelly's wasn't it."

Bella swallows, "Yeah. I don't think the door has been opened since she died. I'm pretty sure it is exactly how it was when she and Aunt Shannon left that day."

Tim nods, "That's understandable."

Bella wipes at her face, "We should head back down there. He may decide to send a search party."

Tim stands and holds out his hand for her to take. "Lets go, I hope Gibbs hasn't poisoned my plate."

Bella laughs out loud, "He better not, or I may shoot him."

Tim smiles, and closes the door behind them, "So you really do like me, huh?"

Bella shrugs, "Eh, just a little bit."

Tim stops and traps Bella between him and the wall, placing his hands on her hips, "Really just a little bit?"

Her arms are relax by her side and she shrugs, "Unless you can make me feel otherwise, yep; just a little bit."

Tim nods and leans down, capturing her lips in a searing kiss. She slides her hands up his torso and around his neck, as he pulls her close to him. He breaks the kiss and smiles at the look on her face. Her eyes are closed, and there is a faint smile on her face.

"How was that?"

She slowly opens her eyes. "I like you a lot Timothy McGee."

He laughs softly, and kisses her once more, "That's what I thought."

~*~

Hearing them come down the stairs, Gibbs grabs the meat in the fridge when they step into the kitchen. Seeing her eyes and the tear marks on her face, Gibbs glares at the other man.

Bella sees the anger in his eyes. She casually raises her palm and shakes her head no. Seeing him relax a little, she turns to McGee, "Come on Tim, there is one more place I want to show you." She starts pulling him towards the basement, "this is one of my favorite rooms."

~*~

After coming back up from the basement, Bella slips into the living room, and heads for the bookcase. Running her fingers along the books she finds the one she wants.

"Bells what are you doing?" Tim asks, breaking the silence.

She grins at him, "My uncle tried to hide my favorite Elvis and Beach Boys cds a few years back. I gave him a book I knew he would never read. I made a copy of said cds and play them to tease him because he could never find where I hid them." Grinning she held the two discs up, "What are you in the mood for?"

Tim smiles and points to the CD in her left hand, "Let's listen to that one."

Bella smiles and puts the CD in her uncle's very out of date CD player note to self: Update Uncle Jay's stereo system.

She hears her uncle open the sliding glass door, and boosts the volume on his stereo up loud enough to where he can hear it. She grabs Tim's hand and they start dancing to the music.

Aruba, Jamaica ooo I wanna take you
Bermuda, Bahama come on pretty mama
Key Largo, Montego baby why don't we go
Jamaica-

Off the Florida Keys
There's a place called Kokomo
That's where you wanna go to get away from it all

Jethro walks in and shouts over the music, "Where do you have those damn CDs stashed?!"

Bella just laughs over Tim's shoulder, "I'll never tell Uncle Jay."

Jethro shakes his head with a smile and turns back to the kitchen to grab what else he needs for the BBQ. That girl listens to music older than she is. Ah, well, at least she knows the good music, not the crap they play on the radio these days.

After their dance, Bella tells Tim to go out and help Jethro with the steaks he's BBQing, and she'll start chopping up the vegetables and watermelon that was in the refrigerator.

Gibbs is standing over the BBQ when Tim walks out, "So Tim, how long have you been courting Bella?"

"Courting?" Seeing the look from the older man, Tim answers, "About a month and a half give or take."

"Yet I was the last to know?"

"Only Ziva and Abby knew and that was on accident. And no offence, but you did threaten to shoot me...twice may I add."

Gibbs smirked, "That I did," he looks in the kitchen window to see Bella washing something in the sink. "She's all I have left Tim."

Tim nods, knowing what he means by that since he now knows about Shannon and Kelly. With out missing a beat, Tim says, "I know that, Boss. I promise that nothing will happen to her. Not if I have anything to say about it. You have my word."

Gibbs turns his head and his crystal eyes meet Tim's. "I am going to trust you with the most important thing in my life, Tim. Don't make me regret my decision."

"I promise," Tim says, and as if to make it final, he sticks out his hand for Gibbs to shake.

~*~

"Mmm, you haven't lost your touch Uncle Jay. This is a fabulous steak," Bella complements.

"Yeah, Gibbs, it's delicious," Tim agrees.

"Thank you both," Gibbs smirks, and glances at his niece from across the table, "Bella, Tim says you've been dating for the past month. You're being safe right?" Both Bella and Tim choke at the same time. Bella stares at her uncle, seeing laughter in his eyes. "You know, making sure that not a lot of people know at work."

Casting Jethro a look, Bella answers slowly "I trust Ziva and Abby so yes."

Gibbs nods, "Good." Turning to Tim, he smirks, "Gee, Tim, what did you think I meant?"

Bella turns to her boyfriend and he turns a deep shade of red, "Uh, nothing, Sir."

Bella shares a smirk with her Uncle and the two chuckle at Tim's embarrassment, and go back to eating their dinner.

~*~

Bella and Tim stand and start to clean up the dinner table, and he follows her with a few left over items in his hand. She places the dirty plates in the sink and the bowl of uneaten watermelon on the center island. Turning to Tim, she gives him a small kiss, "See, that wasn't so horrible was it?"

Tim shakes his head, "It wasn't as bad as I pictured in my head."

Bella laughs and he leans down and kisses her once more.

"I said I approved of your being together, but I don't want to see it," Jethro says from the doorway, causing the couple to jump a foot apart. He laughs to himself and walks out to the living room.